Crafting History and Origami Demo! Clare Hunter for Making Matters: In Search of Creative Wonders
2025-09-08 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath, York Street, Bath, BA1 1NG, United Kingdom
A very special author talk with textile artist and craft expert, Clare Hunter. Clare will be giving an interactive origami demo – so all attendees will go home with their very own paper creation!

“A beautifully considered book . . . Clare Hunter has managed to mix the personal with the political with moving results” Tracy Chevalier

As children, we made things: snowmen, paper boats, eccentrically costumed plays. That making fired our minds and imaginations – it altered our small worlds and shaped who we became. But as adults, it is hard to find to find the space for creativity and to remember its power.

Exploring craft traditions and forms of making from across centuries and cultures, Clare Hunter encourages to engage with the world afresh. To use our hands again, to see beauty in unexpected places, to play and protest and embrace imaginative possibilities. From paper crafts to wonders made from light and snow, she searches for creative delight – making lanterns, puppets and pinhole cameras.

Inspiring and fascinating, Making Matters celebrates individual and collective creativity. It blends history, culture and politics with rich storytelling, wonderful characters and tales of remarkable objects. Read this, and then make something.

Clare Hunter has been a banner-maker, community textile artist and textile curator for over twenty years and established the community enterprise NeedleWorks in Glasgow. Her first book, Threads of Life, won the Saltire First Book Award, was a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month and a Radio 4 Book of the Week.

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Throwing Ceramics
2025-09-11 10:00 - 16:00 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
During this Throwing Ceramics course, you’ll be shown the basic throwing skills on the pottery wheel under the guidance and support of Louise Blois, Technical Demonstrator – Ceramics at Bath Spa University. You’ll then explore making a variety of forms including cylinders, bowls, and plates with plenty of hands-on guidance.

After making your pieces you’ll explore surface decoration using Locksbrook Campus studio’s collection of decorative coloured slips, learning how to add colour to your pieces.

By the end of the course, you’ll have produced a series of custom ceramic pieces, which will then be fired for you to collect three – four weeks later.

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Introduction to Screenprinting - Cut it like Matisse
2025-09-11 10:00 - 17:00 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
Explore the vibrant world of Screenprinting through the lens of Henri Matisse’s paper cut-outs. This one-day course is ideal for beginners or those looking to refresh their skills in a creative, supportive studio environment.

You’ll first learn how to “draw with scissors” and then create bold, abstract designs using paper stencils. You will then expose these shapes onto screens and print in layers to produce colourful, collaborative works on paper.

Working both individually and as a group, you’ll gain a strong foundation in Screenprinting techniques – from stencil-making and screen preparation to printing and registration.

At the end of the course, you’ll have produced a selection of prints to display, including your own design.

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Extending Cyanotypes
2025-09-11 18:00 - 20:00 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
Usually made on dry sensitised paper, in this Extended Cyanotypes workshop you’ll explore making experimental ‘wet’ cyanotypes. In the creative and supportive environment of a small group, watch the process being done, handle several examples and then try the process for yourself.

Bath Spa University’s Extended Cyanotypes workshop is designed so everyone can participate at whatever level suits them. The process is experimental so there is no right or wrong. No former experience is needed to create surprising and beautiful outcomes using cyanotype chemicals combined with everyday materials such as turmeric, salt and beetroot juice.

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Floral Painting
2025-09-12 10:30 - 13:45 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
During this one-day mixed media Floral Painting workshop, you’ll explore expressive approaches to floral subjects using a range of artist-quality materials. Under the guidance of Natalie Bedford, Fine Art graduate and experienced tutor, you’ll begin with observational drawing techniques using wax, charcoal, and erasers to build dynamic marks and tonal contrasts.

You’ll then move into painting with gouache, learning how to apply colour theory to create rhythm, variety, and interest across your composition. The session will finish with the addition of soft chalks to bring depth and vibrancy to your final piece.

Floral Expressions is suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike and welcomes participants of all ages. It is structured enough to support you, but loose enough to encourage personal expression. By the end of the day, you’ll have created a unique floral painting to take home and be proud of.

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Jane Austen 250: Regency Crafternoon
2025-09-12 15:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-13 11:00 - 13:00 | Hidden Store, 2 Pierrepoint Place, Bath, BANES, BA1 1JX, United Kingdom
The Love Makers Craft Cafe offers a menu of craft activities for makers to choose from and enjoy a couple of hours of creative flow in good company.

For this special series of Georgian Crafternoons in celebration of Jane Austen 250, join the team to make your own unique, Regency-inspired souvenir to bring home and remember your visit to beautiful Bath!

Embroider your own handkerchief; collage your favourite aspect of Bath; construct realistic paper flowers, play with silhouettes, or block print a tea towel!

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Wax & Wonder Candle Workshop
2025-09-13 10:00 - 12:00 | Rengen House, 4 Argyle Street, Bathwick, Bath, Bath & North East Somerset, BA2 4BA, United Kingdom
Experience the art of candle making with Rengen House’s hands-on workshops.

They specialise in hosting candle-making classes for individuals and groups, bringing a calm and creative vibe to everyone who joins. Wax & Wonder’s workshops not only teach you how to craft beautiful candles, but also provide a perfect opportunity to unwind and connect with others.

Each event is designed to inspire and relax, ensuring you leave with a unique creation and a sense of satisfaction.

book here

Visible & creative mending - a six week course
2025-09-15 19:00 - 21:00 | BRLSI, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Bath & North East Somerset, BA1 2HN, United Kingdom
Add style and personal touches to your clothes by learning techniques to mend, renew and prolong the life of your favourite clothes!

Learn a wealth of fun and practical mending techniques to take home and put into action straight away. Extend the life of your favourite items and significantly reduce their environmental impact. Over the course of six weeks the course will cover three techniques each for knitted and woven fabrics. Mending is the gift that keeps on giving!

Materials provided include: a swatch of knitted fabric, a selection of threads, a swatch of denim, a swatch of cotton, snips and threads, pins, darning profiles, embroidery hoops, felting needles, roving, felting mats.

To bring with you: latch hook (for fixing runs in knitwear), bent needle (for mending), sashiko needle, chenille needle, ball-tipped needle. OR a £10 Kit add-on – see ticket details below (Kit will contain: latch hook, bent tapestry needle, 2 darners, 1 chenille needle and a half decent threader!) .

What to expect:

Week 1: knitted: English darning – the classic woven darn – an excellent all-rounder and the best place to start. Can be used to mend knitted or woven fabrics of all weights, neatly or more organically to your personal taste. if you’re mending a hole, you need to replace the missing stitches – sewing the sides together will just create a puckered, scruffy, unsatisfactory surface. English darning is the fastest way to do that and you can have fun with colours and patterns with micro-weaves, but be aware that weaving on knitwear will by definition always stand out as a bit different. Make a feature of it!

Week 2: knitted: reverse darning – a build on classic English darning, reverse darning does what it says on the tin. Working from the back, this is one of the most durable mends for knitwear, as the warp and weft are secured through the backs of the stitches around and all the way up to the edges of the damage.

Week 3: knitted: Swiss darning – the holy grail of knitwear mending; done well, Swiss darning can render even quite extensive damage invisible. Following the journey of the original thread through the knit, we retrace the steps of where it would have been to reinforce and rebuild the fabric in seemingly “knitted” stitches that behave – and look – exactly as the originals.

Week 4: woven: Japanese sashiko & boro-inspired mending – perfect for patching denim, cotton or other woven textiles in beautiful geometric patterns inspired by the wabi sabi Sashiko tradition of Japan. This technique is both practical and decorative – using many small stitches to bond the patch to the worn fabric in patterns that will give your garment an elegant new look and a new lease of life.

Week 5: woven: applique & patches – working with a felt base we will felt and stitch a patch for covering over damage on either knitwear or weave.

Week 6: woven: embroidery – especially good for disguising stains or updating tired old clothes, embroidery could take up a whole course of its own! Working on a sampler on a hoop, we will go through a range of stitches and the ways they can be deployed to give your wardrobe an elegant new twist.

Book here

Austen Family Fun Days - Regency Faces
2025-09-20 10:00 - 16:00 | Bath Abbey, Bath, BA1 1LT
Bring your family to Austens at the Abbey for a series of exciting, Regency-themed craft activities for ages 4+, special tours throughout the day and a chance to chat to fun Regency characters from the Natural Theatre Company.

Get hands-on with a craft activity to create your own Regency-inspired portrait or silhouette

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SLAP on 15
2025-09-23 11:00 - 2025-10-05 16:00 | 44AD Artspace, 4 Abbey Street, Bath, Bath & North East Somerset, BA1 1NN, United Kingdom
Eight artists from the ‘For Now’ art collective each create 10 artworks 15cm square in response to the classic genres: Still life/Landscape/Abstract/Portrait in a variety of media and styles. The selection on view will change as the show progresses. All work for sale at £25.00 each.

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Batheaston Art Trail
2025-09-27 00:00 - 2025-09-28 23:59 | Batheaston, Bath, BANES, BA1, United Kingdom
Batheaston artists will be opening their studios to the public on the last weekend of September, with 2025 being the 5th anniversary of this popular event. There will be 50 artists exhibiting in 3 main venues as well as in home studios alongside creative workshops in 2 other venues and a display of Suffragette memorabilia. The Batheaston Art Trail has become a regular event in the West Country arts calendar, offering art and craft lovers a great day out in a beautiful English valley. Ceramicists, illustrators, graphic designers, jewellers, textile artists, sculptors, printers and fine art painters will all be part of the 2025 trail.

The art trail will take place over two days, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September with venues open from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm.

The art trail also celebrates Batheaston’s connection with the suffragette movement with bunting marking all the venues in the signature suffragette colours of green, purple and white. The display of suffragette memorabilia can be found in one of the venues, St John the Baptist Church.

This is a free event with accessible access to most venues but please check the website for more details.

Book here

Cressida Cowell
2025-09-27 10:00 - 11:00 | The Forum Bath, 1A Forum Buildings, Bath, Somerset, BA1 1UG, United Kingdom
Join Cressida Cowell to celebrate How To Train Your Dragon School, her first (hilarious) novel in the Dragon world for 10 years and get an exclusive pre-publication sneak peek of the last instalment of the Which Way series, WHICH WAY TO THE FUTURE. It’s an exciting year for Dragon, with a new live action film released in June: Cressida will talk about her inspiration and give writing and drawing tips; her events are energetic, inspiring, and unmissable!

Meet the author and illustrator behind the How to Train Your Dragon series of children’s books that inspired the DreamWorks Animation hit films.

Book here

Open House
2025-10-09 16:00 - 20:00 | Sandra Higgins Art Gallery, 41 Milsom Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 1DN, United Kingdom
Join the team from Sandra Higgins Gallery to celebrate their new venue and see the current exhibition ‘Contrasts and Connections’ with artists Patrick Hughes, Steve Thomas and Donald Smith.

Celebrating the contrasts and connections between three British artists. Patrick Hughes for his creation of “reverspective’ illusions, joins Steve Thomas, known for his rhythmic abstract structures, and Donald Smith, whose vibrant explorations of colour and form have been exhibited widely.Together, their work creates a dynamic dialogue of illusion, rhythm, and colour.

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Scale Model Making Workshop
2025-10-11 10:00 - 13:00 | Museum of Bath Architecture, The Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel, The Paragon, The Vineyards, Bath, Somerset, BA1 5NA, United Kingdom
Unleash your inner architect and create your own Georgian townhouse window with model maker and artist Jess Wright!

The workshop will explore the methods and techniques used by model makers to create your own unique 1:20 scale window with realistic brickwork, period window and unique flowerbox. Whether you’re into architecture, interiors, miniatures, or just love a relaxing day of crafting, this is a delightful way to spend a few hours immersed in something beautifully small.

All materials included. No experience necessary. Tea and coffee will be available.

This will be a very relaxed workshop, suitable for all abilities with support and guidance to achieve a beautiful model to take home and display.

Duration of workshop 3 hours.

About the Artist: Jess Wright (@small_but_wrighty) is a professional artist and facilitator who has previously worked as a designer and prop maker in theatre and TV. Jess studied Fine Art at Plymouth University and Theatre Design at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and now works as an arts facilitator and her own freelance model making practice.

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World Mental Health Day at the Holburne
2025-10-11 10:30 - 15:30 | The Holburne Museum, Bath, BA2 4DB
Join a day of community connection, creativity and wellbeing, as The Holburne Museum marks World Mental Health Day 2025.

All welcome!

Discover fun and creative ways to support your wellbeing in the beautiful surroundings of the Holburne Museum and Sydney Gardens. Lots on offer throughout the day:

⭐ Creative workshops (Printmaking, Make a Dreamcatcher, Nature-based craft & more) including a drop-in session for young people and adults (11+ yrs and over) from 2-3pm

⭐ Wellbeing sessions (Mindfulness, Breathwork, Stress busting & more)

⭐ Mindful walk in Sydney Gardens with Ecowild

⭐ Storytelling workshop

⭐ Advice & info from 20+ local support services

⭐ Blood pressure checks with a community pharmacist

Plus, music in the Picture Gallery:

⭐ 1.30-3pm Bath Tub Community Orchestra

⭐ 3-3.30pm Choir (Soundwell Singing for Wellbeing Group)

Please collect a FREE wristband when you arrive (at the front of the museum from 10.30am). Your wristband will give you access to:

❤️ All activities and workshops (these will be offered first come, first served, see timetable on the day)

❤️ The whole museum, including exhibitions!

❤️ Delicious soup and roll made by Bath City Farm.

This event is hosted by the Holburne (Pathways to Wellbeing), in partnership with Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Trust, Bath City Farm, Bath Mind, BaNES Parent & Carer Forum, Wellbeing Courses, Soundwell Music Therapy & the Assembly Rooms.

Craf-tea morning for RUHX
2025-10-18 09:30 - 11:30 | Locksbrook Inn, 103 Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EN, United Kingdom
Join Bath RUHX Fundraising Group on Saturday morning at the Locksbrook Inn for a craf-tea spooky morning. Drop in between 9:00-11:30am and try some Halloween crafts, enjoy a cuppa and learn more about supporting your local hospital, RUH Bath. Everyone is welcome to this free event. The group are welcoming new members to join their FUNraising.

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CURATOR’S TALK
2025-10-19 14:00 - 15:00 | Sandra Higgins Art Gallery, 41 Milsom Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 1DN, United Kingdom
Meet the Curator/Gallery Owner, Sandra Higgins to be guided through the current exhibition, ‘Contrasts & Connections’ at Sandra Higgins Art Gallery in Shires Yard. You will be given insight into the inspiration and creation of the artworks in the show by the three distinguished British artists Patrick Hughes, Steve Thomas and Donald Smith. United by their colourful palettes, joyful forms and images as well as their humour this is really an uplifting experience for visitors. It is your chance to engage with artists never shown before in Bath in this new contemporary art gallery in the heart of the city.

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Rope (1948) + Macramé Workshop
2025-10-20 16:00 - 20:30 | Burdall’s Yard, 7A Anglo Terrace, Bath, BANES, BA1 5NH, United Kingdom
A murder. A dinner party. A decorative knot. Alfred Hitchcock’s taut psychological thriller Rope (1948) is the perfect film to pair with an evening of creative tension.

Join queer horror collective Reel Life Monsters for a one-of-a-kind event combining craft and cinema. The evening begins with a hands-on macramé workshop—no experience needed, all materials provided—followed by a screening of Rope, a chilling tale of arrogance, morality, and murder, shot in a groundbreaking continuous-take style.

Macramé workshop followed by film screening.

Materials provided | Bar open throughout.

Come for the knots. Stay for the thrill.

Book here

Donald Smith Artist’s Talk
2025-10-26 14:00 - 15:00 | BANES
Join Sandra Higgins Gallery for a glass of Prosecco and an insightful Artist’s Talk with Donald Smith, past Director of Exhibitions at Chelsea College of Art and an artist respected internationally as a major cultural figure across art design and popular culture. He will engage with visitors as he talks about the inspiration for his artworks currently in the exhibition, ‘Contrasts & Connections’. This is also the last day of the exhibition, so do come along before it closes!

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Junk Modelling Workshop
2025-10-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Boston Tea Party – Alfred Street, 8 Alfred Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 2QU, United Kingdom
Not a load of rubbish!

Drop by BTP Alfred Street for a creative workshop like no other; perfect for children aged 4-11, they’ll learn new ways to repurpose “rubbish” in this fun junk modelling workshop, reimagining how we could travel. Hosted by researchers from the IAAPS, University of Bath.

It’s completely free to join in – just show up!

Halloween Pumpkin Decorating
2025-10-28 09:00 - 10:00 | Boston Tea Party – Alfred Street, 8 Alfred Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 2QU, United Kingdom
This Halloween half term, join a spooky pumpkin decorating session at BTP Alfred Street. Little ones can get crafty and enjoy a sweet treat at the end (while you enjoy a cuppa or two). Book ahead.

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Halloween Pumpkin Decorating
2025-10-28 14:00 - 15:00 | Boston Tea Party – Kingsmead Square, 19 Kingsmead Square, Bath, Bath, BA1 2AE, United Kingdom
This Halloween half term, get spooky with pumpkin face painting and decorating for the littles at Boston Tea Party Kingsmead Square!

£5 per child, includes pumpkin, all crafts and a babyccino. Just turn up.

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Boozy Pumpkin Decorating
2025-10-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Boston Tea Party – Kingsmead Square, 19 Kingsmead Square, Bath, Bath, BA1 2AE, United Kingdom
Let your creative side out with an evening of pumpkin decorating.

£10 per person, includes pumpkin, all crafts, and a beer or mini bottle of prosecco. Just turn up!

(Looking for pumpkin decorating for the littles? Check out the events on earlier in the day on 28th October at BTP Alfred Street and BTP Kingsmead Square)

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Halloween Cookie Decorating
2025-10-30 09:00 - 10:00 | Boston Tea Party – Alfred Street, 8 Alfred Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 2QU, United Kingdom
This Halloween half term, join a spooky cookie decorating session at BTP Alfred Street. Little ones can get crafty and enjoy a sweet treat at the end (while you enjoy a cuppa or two). Book ahead.

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Witchcrafternoon
2025-10-30 15:00 - 17:00 | Boston Tea Party – Alfred Street, 8 Alfred Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 2QU, United Kingdom
Get spooky and crafty with the kids this half term.

Drop in at BTP Alfred Street for a spookily creative crafternoon. Keep those little fingers busy while you enjoy a cuppa (or two).

No need to book – just join in!

Ceramics Taster
2025-11-01 10:00 - 16:00 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
During this one-day Ceramics taster course, you’ll discover a variety of techniques in both making and decoration, including wheel throwing and hand-building under the guidance and support of Louise Blois, Technical Demonstrator – Ceramics at Bath Spa University.

You’ll explore:– Hand-building with stoneware clay: pinching, coiling, slab-building, and using press/plaster moulds– Tile-making with slip decoration, inlay, and sgraffito.– Throwing on the potter’s wheel: centring the clay and making cylinders, bowls, and plates.– Slip-casting with in-house moulds with slip decoration.– Surface decorating using a range of methods to create unique pieces.

With step-by-step demonstrations and guidance throughout the session, you’ll gain a solid and deeper understanding of ceramic processes and keepsakes made throughout the day.

Perfect for all abilities, this workshop introduces the fundamentals of making with clay and offers space for more experienced makers to refine and experiment.

Please bring along an apron or wear clothing you don’t mind being dirty and covered in clay.

Book here

Monotype, Drypoint and Collograph
2025-11-03 18:00 - 2025-12-08 20:30 | Bath Spa University – Locksbrook Road Campus, The Street, Locksbrook Road, Bath, BANES, BA1 3EL, United Kingdom
In this six-week course you’ll explore Monotype, Drypoint and Collograph printmaking which are great ways to begin your initial mark-making and are good foundations for the other techniques.

This course is ideal for those who have some printing experience but also for budding artists who would like to have a go. All are welcome, just prepare to get creative and inky in our stunning workshop.

You’re encouraged to attend all three terms where you will learn Monotype, Drypoint and Collograph; Relief Printmaking and Etching as you develop your individual ideas, however this is not necessary.

Book here

CUT and CONTINUE EXHIBITION 4 Nov.-30 Nov.
2025-11-09 14:00 - 15:00 | Sandra Higgins Art Gallery, 41 Milsom Street, Bath, BANES, BA1 1DN, United Kingdom
On Sunday 9th November, the gallery will be open from 12pm till 6pm, it is an OPEN DAY RECEPTION AND TALK.

Join curator Basia Kearey in conversation with exhibiting artists Fabio Almeida, Richard Crooks, David Ferry, and Marq Kearey with Sandra Higgins, the gallery owner, for an open discussion exploring the diverse practices and evolving language of collage.

The event aims to celebrate the vitality of difference within the shared language of collage.

Each artist in ‘Cut and Continue’ approaches collage from a distinct perspective — from architectural and material abstraction to photographic montage, narrative construction, and painterly layering. This conversation will trace how their methods have developed over time, how experimentation has shaped their processes, and how their differing philosophies and materials reflect the expansive possibilities of collage.

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Contemporary Crafts at Christmas
2025-11-15 08:00 - 2025-11-16 17:00 | American Museum & Gardens, Claverton Manor, Claverton Down, Bath, BANES, BA2 7BD, United Kingdom
The Gloucestershire Guild (founded in 1933 to support craftspeople and still going strong!) is once again hosting a selling exhibition at The American Museum, Claverton Manor, Bath on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November.

21 members of the Gloucestershire Guild will be showing and selling their contemporary design and craft across a range of disciplines including ceramics, jewellery, textiles, knitwear, basketry, furniture, and rugs. It will be the perfect opportunity to buy handcrafted and unique Christmas gifts to wear and for the home.

The American Museum & Gardens is set on 125 acres of green, rolling topography, with breathtaking views over the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Visitors can explore the gardens, visit the Manor House featuring a fantastic collection of American decorative and folk art, and enjoy the American Garden Deli and shop.

The show will be open Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 November from 10am – 5pm daily. Tickets can be bought in advance via The American Museum website or on the day at the ticket office at the museum.

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